Tasting Notes 40 found

Is simply beautiful wine drinking perfectly today (1048 views)

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Outstanding. Hold your newer Jimsomare! (1056 views)

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ready to drink now, jammy, smooth, a bit of acid (1135 views)

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Really good. Wish we had more (1503 views)

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Dark red color, limited transparency, small amount of tartrate sediment. Ripe (but not jammy) red fruit nose with raspberry and strawberry dominating. Palate is exceptionally well integrated at this point. Everything seems to be in its place and the alcohol is fully hidden. This was delicious with grilled burgers. A great Jimsomare experience. Drink or hold. (1602 views)

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Very much like it was 2 years ago. No real notes, but it was a Zin that impressed. With pizza. (377 views)

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15.9% abv. Dark ruby, moderately expressive aromas. Ripe plum, new leather, orange peel and a touch of mint on the palate. A very complex wine with excellent depth and length. The wine is probably in a long slow plateau. Drink now or hold for a few more years. (1213 views)

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This is perfect right now beautiful balance of dark fruit and leather with a hint of acidity. Excellent (927 views)

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With some air this was great. I think this still hasn’t quite peaked yet. Oak seemed mostly integrated but still getting a big initial dose of that coconut. Maybe best in 2020-2025?

Otherwise, typical higher quality mountain zin. Very tasty. (1302 views)

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A knockout Zin. Which to me means, this does not express the typical Zin notes like jammy fruit and bramble. This Zin stands on its own as deep herbaceous fruit (think Oakville Cab) that makes it complex, and incredibly thoughtful. (1105 views)

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A very nice and mature Zinfandel. It is not meant for longer term cellaring. Enjoy now. (986 views)

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The energy level of a puppy can be amusing and stimulating, but there are time when you appreciate the calm and quiet of a mature dog. Two years ago this wine was big a bit brusing. Its now matured into an elegant Zin with Draper perfume, a bit of rhubarb, and black pepper on the nose. Those elements are joined on the palate with warm dark fruits, particularly plum. Something a bit unidentifiable, yet mineral zips across the mid-palate. The finish is all dark fruits and mocha. Some heavy sediment in the final pours. 15.7% alc. With pork barbeque from the BBQ Exchange. Recommended. (376 views)

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The wine is drinking nicely, but I would not wait to pull any remaining corks. (964 views)

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Mature cool climate zin. Fruit and acid in balance with a little mid-palate bitterness. Not a 'wow' wine, but a nice companion to a steak dinner. (1335 views)

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Black fruit and prune. Good fruit. Stemmy bitterness that made some unhappy. (1128 views)

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The deep magenta rim and light purple core is pretty in the glass. The nose lifts with Zin funk, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Interestingly, no rhubarb appears on either the nose or palate. Flavors more or less track the nose with the added fruit of cherry. Mocha takes the finish. The mouthfeel is rather light ... and disappointing. Nothing here reflects the richness usually found in Ridge Zins. A pleasant enough wine but definitely not a QPR. 100% Zin from the Monte Bello vineyard. 15.7% alc.(!) With Shack attack beef burgers. Recommended with reservations (368 views)

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A lovely Zin for current drinking with blackberries, bramble, dried dark fruits, forest floor, and a little vanilla. Very delicious. (1703 views)

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Consumed over three nights. The first night showed a little bit of heat, but that was gone by the second night. Smooth fruits, integrated oak, some acidity (but not too much). Somewhat restrained, but good. (1623 views)

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My last of 5 bottles, this was a fine showing for one of my all-time favorite zins. It didn't show the strong acetone fumes that marred the prior bottle. That said, it is definitely high octane on the nose, and a bit porty. Smooth and rich with dark mountain fruit, it still has some tannins left to be resolved over the next year or two. This is just entering its peak phase, and I'm envious of anyone who still has some of this zin on hand. (1661 views)

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Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel Jimsomare Ranch Santa Cruz Mtns. 2009

The wine is big in color, big on the nose and lumbers around the palate like a bull; a very big bull. But even bulls can exude a brawny elegance and rough hewn grace. This is such a wine. Rhybarb, Zin funk Draper perfume on the nose and the palate, where black pepper - black pepper by the handful - is thrown in. But there is something odd and powerful on the mid-palate. Iodine? Root beer? Something unique but not quite identifiable. Cocoa comes through on the finish as the wine opens up. The wine smooths out over time, but it remains a big wine. Some heavy sediment in the final pour. 15.7% alc. (!) In the final analysis, the wine is just too big for the meal pairing. Recommended.

Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel York Creek Spring Mountain, Napa, Ca., 2006

My how time has been a friend to this wine. The fruit is sweet, deep and intense without being jammy or overly ripe. The tannins are smooth; the acidity vibrant and crisp. This almost all Zin (Zinfandel (99%) and Petit Sirah (1%)) shows what can be accomplished with York Creek fruit. While the wine takes some time to awaken, it shows plum, Dr. Pepper, rhubarb, Zin funk, black pepper, and a long finish of mocha. Balanced and elegant after seemingly being borne of a rude beginning according to my initial notes from a bottle several years ago. 14.8% alc. Recommended.


Both Zins served side by side with beef and pork sausage chili and quietly observing what would have been my father’s 98th birthday. 01.23.16. (365 views)

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As DESLER notes below, this has evolved into a mature, smooth zin. For whatever reason, some VA was really rearing up this time, making the wine quite fumey. It did subside a bit over the course of the evening. Hopefully it's a case of bottle variation and my last remaining bottle will be more true to form. (1472 views)

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great mature zin..well balanced and smooth tannin (1784 views)

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The wine has an expressive nose and on the palate is has a smooth tannic structure combined with blackberries, bramble and other dark fruits. This is very easy to drink right now. (1705 views)

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A little hot on the nose, with some berries. Nice, smooth, blackberries with a significant tobacco overtone. Adequate tannins remain. Should age well for several years, but drinking well now. (1750 views)

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This wine is just now beginning to improve. Very nice! (1984 views)

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Dark, rich and deep. Still a bit of a tannic edge. This will be even better in 5 years. (2011 views)

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Saturated dark purple in color, with a room-filling aroma as I poured it into the decanter. (The wine left some sediment in the last glass, so I suggest decanting slowly rather than splashy as I did.) The nose is slightly porty, with intense minerally dark fruits and flowers. Each sip leaves a blanket of plush fruit on the tongue, with fine grained tannins and decent acid. The wine has that old vine density, and it left me with the impression that it is still holding something back. I suspect it will evolve into something even more special over the next 5-10 years. (1747 views)

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Not as strong as the last bottle (89) a few months ago. Wasn't as well integrated though the underlying fruit was ok. (1448 views)

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Very expressive, still shows good tannic structure. Drink noe or hold for a few more years. (1463 views)

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Terrific and on the upswing! (1336 views)

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Good ridge zin but subdued. Fruit more subtle than normal and the finish has some graphite or scorched earth not seen with most zins. (1411 views)

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Took about half an hour to start opening up. Once it did there was a lot of rich dark fruit. Still a bit of a tannic bite at the end. In the beginning of its drinking window - still has some life ahead of it. Can hold.

In terms of pairings, it can't stand up to strong foods (e.g. lots of garlic etc.) (1661 views)

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Dark red with purple notes. Aromas of fresh red berries picked at their peak of ripeness without any stewed or jammy notes. Palate has blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry with an almost liqueur-like level of intensity and that shows on the finish where heat is evident. The advertised 15+% alcohol is the only problem with this wine. Some medium-fine tannins show up with some time open, but this drank well over three days. Drink or hold. (1856 views)

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Excellent richness, depth and focus. A favorite of mine! (2177 views)

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A good example of the Ridge range. From what I've read, Jimsomare is usually a bit of an austere Zin, but this vintage turned out a bit (or a lot) riper than usual. At 15.7% alc this wine has more in common with some of the bigger wines from Paso Robles or Santa Barbara than it does with Geyserville. Even so, Ridge pretty much nails it. Ripe, lush. Relatively low acidity, but enough weight to cover over the heat quite nicely. Something like a Loring Divergence (which is modeled after El Nido). Maybe not what folks look for in Ridge, but good none the less. (This is a hard wine to judge how it will age. The Ridge notes on the back of the bottle, though, are usually conservative, if anything, and they say 10-15 years.) (2072 views)

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First tasted this up at the winery when offered a glass by another wine club member. Loved it so much we bought 6 bottles. Very small production vineyard. Wine only available to wine club members. (2239 views)

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Dark red/purple color. On the nose, raspberry, some cherry and very smooth. Big fruit on the mid-palate but has bright acidity on the back palate with a smooth, restrained oak finish. (922 views)

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Rich, inky crimson in color, this jam-packed (pun intended) Ridge "special project" is over the top in a fun way. Gushing with blueberry, black cherry, cola, vanilla, caramel, and toast. Very full, silken mouth feel (even for Ridge) bely its huge 15.7% alchohol. (2693 views)

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Bold, smoky berry (1761 views)

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Rich aroma of boysenberry syrup. Very jammy blackberry flavors with a distinctly tannic finish. Some spiciness in the mid-palate. Quite attractive now but should continue to develop and integrate. (2002 views)

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